FE Today Logo

RMG industry

Women's upward mobility very limited: Study

MONIRA MUNNI | March 22, 2023 00:00:00


Upward mobility or career progression of women workers in the billion-dollar apparel industry is extremely limited, according to latest research findings.

"An estimated 86 per cent of the workers joined garment factories as helpers while 66 per cent left as operators and only 1.0 per cent as supervisors," reads the study report.

The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), GIZ and Brac University jointly carried out the research styled 'The Declining Number of Women Workers in the Bangladesh RMG Industry'.

The Sustainable Textile Initiative: Together for Change (STITCH) funded the research done with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Surprisingly, none of the surveyed former workers noted 'lack of career progression or upward mobility' as a reason for leaving the ready-made garment (RMG).

"It appears that women have accepted the norm that they can only work as helpers or operators reporting to male line managers and supervisors, despite the data showing that women supervisors had higher productivity levels compared to men," cites the report.

From focus group discussions and key informant interviews, the study found a number of reasons why there are low female supervisors in RMG factories.

They study disclosed that male workers find it difficult to accept the fact that a woman is their supervisor.

"Male line chiefs cannot come to terms with working with a women supervisor, as they cannot reprimand her," it said.

Females cannot work long hours required for these roles, as they need to go to their families back home.

Even women workers also do not want to work under female supervisors, according to the findings.

Supervisor salaries are fixed, whereas operators can work overtime and earn more which also limited the upward mobility of female workers.

The report looked at entry into and exit from garment units, the reasons both for entry and exit by female workers and the implications of these changes for women's participation in the $42-billion RMG sector.

A total of 337 factories, 370 current and 285 former female garment workers and 183 potential women workers were surveyed.

Nine focus groups with 89 participants and 16 key informant interviews with key stakeholders, including buyers and suppliers, were made.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), consistently from 1980 to 1994, reported that the proportion of women labour had been 80 per cent.

But a number of studies came up with the finding that the proportion has been declining and stood at 53.65 per cent in 2021.

The ETI study, however, brought out the reasons behind the declining trend that cited caring for children as the main reason for leaving the industry followed by pregnancy and discrimination for being pregnant.

Other reasons included age appropriateness, difficulty in balancing work and home responsibilities and working conditions including harassment, violence, long working hours and low salaries.

The study made a number of recommendations for factory managements, brands and buyers, government, trade unions/workers' representatives and civil society and NGOs on how RMG factories stop the exit of women from the sector, retain skilled women workers and continue to attract more of them in future.

[email protected]


Share if you like